Word to the Wise
Saturday, January 18, 2014 - Saturday in the 1st Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Sam 9:1-4, 17-19; 10:1 and Mark 2:13-17]Some scribes who were Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with sinners and tax collectors and said to his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus heard this and said to them, "Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners."
In the ten months or so that Pope Francis has been in office, he has managed to startle a lot of people! Shortly after his election, he gave an interview with a prominent Jesuit publication in which the interviewer asked him to describe himself. He responded, "I am a sinner!" This kind of response was refreshing to some and scandalizing to others! Indeed Pope Francis' "style" has been exactly to welcome tax collectors and sinners and eat with them!
The important thing here is not to focus on Pope Francis personally but on the example he is setting! The reason why he is having such an impact is that the world is not accustomed to his example! The church (and that includes all of us and not just the leadership) has not consistently acted as Pope Francis is doing. We have been doing less welcoming and eating and instead doing more "finger-wagging" and excluding. As marvelous as Pope Francis is, the challenge is not to "marvel' at his example, but to follow it! Invite the scribes and Pharisees as well! AMEN